It’s fifteen years since I was ordained a priest on 3rd January 1998. Praise the Lord for fifteen wonderful years; and for all the people who have helped me, supported me, guided me, nudged me, worked with me, walked beside me, and consoled me in that time; and for all those I have met and ministered to along the way.

I love dates, and the feast days that providentially come along with them, so I was disappointed all those years ago that 3rd January had no assigned feast day in the universal calendar. The reason for choosing the date was that it was the last Saturday of the Christmas holiday before everyone returned to the English College in Rome for exams, so it meant that friends from seminary could come to the ordination.

You can imagine my delight, therefore, that in the new calendar that comes with the new English translation of the Roman Missal, the restored feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is assigned to this day.

I’ve always had a devotion to the Holy Name. I remember learning and using the ‘Jesus prayer’ even before I became a Catholic; and in times of crisis or temptation I have found the Name of Jesus to be one of the simplest and most powerful weapons we have at hand. So I pray that this new association between my anniversary and his Holy Name will help me to give him even greater praise and glory.

It was a very special weekend for the Diocese of Lancaster. On Saturday morning John Millar, one of our Allen Hall seminarians, was ordained deacon in the Cathedral Church of St Peter in Lancaster, on the diocesan feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. And the following day Sr Margaret Atkins made her final profession as an Augustinian sister in the community at Boarbank Hall.

There are many different reasons why the Lord calls people to diaconal/priestly ministry and to religious life, and the different forms of consecration take on different meanings for the individual, and for the Church and the world – often changing over time. But one of the meanings (not at all exclusive to Orders or to consecrated life) is to give a particular form of example to the Christian community and to the world.

This is phrased beautifully in the Prayer of Consecration at the Diaconal Ordination:

May he excel in every virtue: in love that is sincere, in concern for the sick and the poor, in unassuming authority, in self-discipline, and in holiness of life. May his conduct exemplify your commandments and lead your people to imitate his purity of life. May he remain strong and steadfast in Christ, giving to the world the witness of a pure conscience. May he in this life imitate your Son, who came not to be served but to serve, and one day reign with him in heaven.

Many congratulations to Deacon John and Sister Margaret. May their example and prayers inspire many others to serve Christ as his ordained ministers and consecrated religious.

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About this blog

Looking across the landscape of contemporary culture - at the arts, science, religion, politics, philosophy; sorting through the jumble; seeing what stands out, what unsettles, what intrigues, what connects, what sheds light. Father Stephen Wang is a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Westminster, London. He is currently Senior University Chaplain, based at Newman House Catholic Chaplaincy. [Banner photo with kind permission of Matthew Powell]

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